Ja ja, this theme is getting stretched now. It’s hot. You get it. But I haven’t yet bored you with what we did last weekend, so I’m going to do that right now before the thunder storm arrives.
Eva and I started Saturday at Tumble in the Jungle. It’s the fifth time she and her classmates have been there for a party but the conga, limbo and ketchup smiles never get old. It was also way cooler than I expected because yknow, a soft play on a boiling day wouldn’t be my first choice. As it happens, an indoor pool wouldn’t be my first choice either but the kids had lobbied hard for a return trip to Leyton Leisure Centre and so we jumped on the 230 and headed to “Pepper’s Ghost” for a spot of pre-swimming lunch (but don’t follow my example…you know the rules about swimming and lunch)
Eva was impatient to swim, even though the pool didn’t open until 1 and we were still waiting for Nathan and Reuben to come and meet us. When she finally grasped this, she took up a sentry position by the window to watch out for them.
And eventually I let her get changed and we just waited outside the pool itself. It was 1:30, the session finished at 2:30 and things were a little tense. Once the boys arrived, there was some faffing as the pool was full but we got let in around 1:50, got changed in record time and enjoyed a blissful half hour of splashing around, getting sprayed with water cannons and going down the slides. It’s a great area for smaller ones and again, cooler than I thought it would be.
Still, we hadn’t actually spent any time outside on this gloriously sunny day, so we popped down the road to Abbotts Park, stopping only to buy an ice cream at “Afters”. I had the Fruits of the Forest sorbet and it was awesome. The kids had mango sorbet but Eva only ate the sprinkles. She’s a fool of a girl.
It’s not a park I’d even heard of before, but it was quite big. There’s an outdoor gym section, which also has a zipwire, then an area for littler kids sectioned off too. You can more or less see it here:
And then some climbing frames that are a good in-between size too:
We didn’t last long because it was a bit too hot for my pale British children (who now have better tans than I do) but the next day after church we were out in the roasting sun again, this time in Ridgeway Park, Chingford. Roo and I had been there before but this time the model railway was running. If you’ve never been on it before, you should. It’s only tiny but you can sit on it and go round the park at quite some speed:
It’s open on Sundays during the summer and it’s £1 per person to ride. I believe you can also hire it for kids’ parties. More information here.
And now it’s 10:30pm, Reuben still isn’t asleep and it’s still not cooled down. I think I’m going to sit in the paddling pool before bed. Happy Midsummer!
